The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) says it has significantly reduced the cases of adulteration of petroleum products by about 78%.
According to the NPA this was as a result of the introduction of the Petroleum Product Marking Scheme last year.
The scheme is a system that allows the NPA to identify adulterated products on the market with the introduction of a chemical.
Chief Executive of the NPA, Moses Asaga speaking to Citi Business News at the launch of the marking scheme on Monday also said his outfit will soon roll out tough sanctions on perpetrators.
“Because it’s on a trial basis, we feel that the operators of the filling stations need to be sensitized more. At first time offence, we don’t provoke the sanctions but as they get more educated and understand, then we will start with administrative sanctions before we move to the sanctions that will be provided by the LI. The most serious sanction is to close the filling station until you address the issues,” the NPA boss explained.
Meanwhile, the Association of Oil marketing Companies has welcomed the move. Association President, Agyeman Duah speaking to Citi Business News said the association members were also focused on doing self evaluation before the NPA does its checks.
“The bottom line is that we have to be able to check ourselves. We do self-audit and self-checks”
By: Anim Kwaku Boadu/citifmonline.com/Ghana